Mushroom

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Mushroom, any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of various types of fungi. Mushrooms can be classified as nonpoisonous and poisonous. Poisonous mushrooms are sometimes called toadstools.

Mushrooms can be found in many different places, such as damp woods, open pastures, and lawns in the city. They seem to appear suddenly, as they grow very rapidly during a moist warm night and quickly become full grown. They decay as quickly; some last a few hours, others a few days.

Mushrooms have a great many shapes and colors. The most familiar ones are shaped like umbrellas. Other shapes resemble funnels, stars, balls, honeycomb, pieces of coral, or bells. Mushrooms come in almost every color.